Page 27 of Elizabeth’s Choice

Darcy could see that Mr. Bennet genuinely enjoyed the call and agreed to call again the following early morning. His heart was lighter to know Mr. Bennet better and prayed that once Elizabeth forgave him, that Mr. Bennet would approve the courtship.

~*~

Elizabeth was no longer surprised at seeing Mr. Darcy by the property line in the mornings, as he had been consistently present for the past eight straight days. It had been the same every morning; he would tip his hat at her without a word and follow her whichever direction she rode for an hour. Keeping a wide distance between them, he would only trail behind her and after she hopped off of her horse at Ashworth’s gate, he would wait until the stableboy greeted her and then depart.

Elizabeth had been busy setting up her new home and was pleased with the property. The owners wanted to sell the estate soon but were willing to wait for five months until she was of age. And she knew that even if her own reputation were in tatters due to the archery competitions and dressing like a gentleman, becoming a landowner would place her in a class of her own and her respectability would be improved, thus keeping her sisters safe so that they would still be able to marry well. She only wore her suit in the early mornings so that no one would see her and appeared a fine lady for everyone else for the rest of the day to keep her word to her mother.

She had written to Lady Matlock to find out what rumours might be circulating about herself and received a reply the day prior which confused her greatly. The countess had described that she had only heard that Captain Fairfax had left Brighton abruptly due to an urgent matter, and that a very wealthy suitor was purchasing expensive gifts in her name in Brighton but no one knew who the gentleman was. Lady Matlock asked if her nephew might have been the suitor and promised that she would protect Elizabeth’s name if other rumours should circulate.

This very morning, instead of ignoring Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth decided to confront him to ask about Brighton. She trotted her horse towards him and instead of passing him in silence, she stopped and said, “How long do you plan on showing up here, Mr. Darcy?”

Darcy, astonished that she finally stopped ignoring him, stuttered, “For as long as you allow it, Elizabeth. I will be here every morning unless you forbid it.”

Elizabeth smiled a little but quickly hid it and asked, “What do you think about Ashworth? I am to purchase it in March.”

“It is a very fine house,” he answered as he felt peace course through his heart, “It is larger than I expected and Sir William said that the estate brings in nearly a thousand a year, with several tenants and a large farming land attached. It is a great achievement and I know you will manage it exceedingly well.”

“Thank you. I have a bailiff who helps me as well as four servants to run it and am putting into practice all I learned at Pemberley to ensure I am successful,” she pulled the reins to guide the horse towards Oakham Mount and continued, “I wrote to your aunt."

Darcy was surprised that she resumed conversing with him but quickly led his horse to walk next to hers, “I pray she is doing well. I was planning on writing to my uncle today and to check in with my sister also.”

“Georgie will be arriving in four days, on Wednesday, Mr. Darcy,” she announced. “I invited her to join me here after my furnishings are completed and she agreed to stay for as long as you will allow it. I have a question for you, though. What happened in Brighton after I departed? Your aunt mentioned that I had an anonymous suitor there. What did you do?”

Darcy took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and then explained, “I could not believe what I had said then and cannot apologise enough, Elizabeth. I am so sorry that I became jealous when I thought you were too close with another man. Mr. Rochester explained himself but I should not have revealed your name nor accuse you of being indecent with him. I formally apologised to him and Georgie was so angry with me but we came up with the idea to promote you in Brighton. As far as we know, only a few people heard me speak your name, but Georgie thought it a good idea that I go to all the shops anonymously and purchase gifts for Captain Sabrina Fairfax. I believe it worked and after a week of procuring several items, we heard no talks of any scandals, but rather everyone wanting to know more about the captain and how accomplished you were in archery.”

Elizabeth looked at him and enquired, “What kind of trinkets did you purchase that it would take a week to shop?”

Darcy coughed as he coloured, “Just a few things here and there.”

“What are you hiding from me? You know I can tell if you are keeping secrets,” she pressed.

“I promise you that I was not attempting to buy your forgiveness. You know this, do you not?” He saw her nod her head. “I bought several hair combs, a few silk gloves, some bottles of perfume, two pearl necklaces, five dozen books… and… a boat. A boat I named ‘Sabrina Fair’.”

Elizabeth’s eyes bulged as she exclaimed, “How could you spend so much? A boat? That sounds ridiculous. I hope it is a small one, since what would you do with a boat?” she giggled. “I hope Georgie is enjoying the other gifts.”

Darcy smiled at her, “They are all for you. I have them at Netherfield and they are all meant for you. The boat remains in Brighton but it is actually a small ship that can travel to the continent once the war with France is over. It is being used to assist His Majesty’s navy now but your other name is proudly displayed on it.” He chuckled, “I did not think you were in the market for more dresses but I can arrange for another dozen to be delivered to you as well if you like.”

She laughed loudly, “Good lord, no! No more dresses!” She calmed and tenderly spoke to him, “I should be upset with you for being so high-handed again but thank you. Thank you for working so hard to save my reputation. I was concerned for my sisters more than for myself, since I know I am a hoyden and have no fears for my own future. What did you think about my family? Now that you met my mother, what are your thoughts on the difference in our stations?”

“Your family was as I had expected and I know for certain that Bingley has been very enthusiastic to call on your sister Jane. He has called on her twice already,” he replied. “Miss Bennet was as you described and your other sisters were the same. They were pleasant young ladies.”

She smiled to herself as she asked, “And what about my mother? What is your opinion on her?”

“She was… she was just as you described and it was… was a… pleasure to make her acquaintance,” he coloured again, unable to tell her the full truth, since only a brief time had passed that she resumed speaking to him and he did not want to upset her again.

But Elizabeth laughed louder as she exclaimed, “Liar! I heard you speak with Mr. Bingley that night. I know exactly how you feel about my mother.”

“I have no wish to offend you regarding your mother but have come to know your father better and called on him nearly every morning since the assembly,” he expounded. “He said that I am the spitting image of my father and told me how much he missed him. I had not known that they were such close friends for over twenty years before his passing. I did not pay much attention to my father's friends in my youth and met Bingley’s father only twice, since he lived in York and I happened to be in Derbyshire those times. Your father is very intelligent and you take after him.” Darcy watched her and asked, “Why were you so delayed in coming to Hertfordshire? Your father said you were injured. What happened? Where were you?”

Elizabeth stopped her horse atop the mount and told her story, “I have not told anyone and even my father does not know the full story but I will tell you. I was in Oxford to visit Mrs. Rochester and a few of my old friends as well as to partake in a friendly competition. While I was practicing with several others, I heard someone talking to another man about planning to use archery to assassinate the Prince Regent and I found them suspicious and brought it up to the magistrate whom I had known for years. He was concerned because there had been some noise about an uprising and I was recruited to discover their plot by gaining their trust as an archery enthusiast. I spent two weeks pretending to be a rich but eager archery student in my nicest dresses and was able to find out that they were indeed planning an assassination."

She continued, “A few days later, the same men and I were at the competition so I pointed them out to the magistrate and exposed their plans, but they accused me of lying and that I was only trying to eliminate them from the contest for my own nefarious reasons. I identified myself as Captain Fairfax but they did not take well to being captured and while attempting to escape, one of them shot my shoulder with an arrow and I also injured my ankle while falling. I was able to protect myself by shooting both of them in their legs to stop them and they were promptly arrested. My friends helped me get back to the inn to be seen by a surgeon and all was well, but I could not walk well on my own and was delayed until my injuries healed.”

“You are all healed now, though?” Darcy asked through gritted teeth. “Tell me the name of these men and I will have them hanged.”

Elizabeth smiled as she turned her horse to return to Ashworth, “They will be punished and will not bother me ever again, I am sure.”

Darcy took a deep breath and said, “I hope you know how much I love you, Elizabeth. I went mad when I thought another man was assuming too much familiarity with you but feel murderous to hear that someone wounded you. But I am not blind to the fact that I caused your anger with me because I was a jealous dolt and could not hold my tongue. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I truly wish you no harm and want only the best for you.”